You could hardly call General Motors’ recent decision to stop producing many of its sedans unexpected. After all, Ford had previously announced it was killing all of its sedans, and Fiat Chrysler had already ceased production of the Dart and 200, but for those of us who have no desire to drive souless SUVs, it does not bode well.

Despite the wails of a President who seems unable to grasp the intricacies of international business beyond slapping a name on a tower, the American sedan has been on life support for some time. As The Economist points out:

“A big factor behind that gap is collapsing consumer demand for saloon cars, long a mainstay of the big car firms. Six years ago, annual sales of pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles were roughly 7.5m in America, equivalent to sales of saloons. Now Americans buy over 12m pickups and SUVs each year, more than twice the sales of saloons. The plants that gm is winding down make the Buick LaCrosse, the Chevrolet Cruze and other saloons. Once buzzing with three shifts, these plants have been running just one shift of late.”

Demands to keep those plants open are equivalent to asking corporations to ignore change in favor of propping up the past, almost as if they should be providing some sort of job welfare scheme, not unlike attempts to shore up “beautiful, clean coal” when the world has moved on.

And moving on was a big part of this decision. GM needs to invest in electric and automated technologies. Volkswagen made a claim recently that its next generation of internal combustion engines will be its last, the future is in electrics. Certainly that will not be popular for the President either, as it does not rely on the venerable fossil fuel industry, but then the future can be a very frightening place.

And it isn’t like President Trump hasn’t had a hand in pushing GM to its breaking point. Both GM and Ford have estimated the impact on profits of Trump’s tariffs, particularly on steel and aluminum, at over $1B.

Still, the American auto industry does not lie blameless here. Just a few short years ago, it was caught flatfoot relying on SUVs and trucks when the bottom dropped out, requiring federal bailouts and the “cash for clunkers” program. Let’s hope the industry has gotten better at retooling, or we could see a repeat of auto executives with their hands out.

And let’s be clear about this here. Though outsold by its RAV4 crossover for the first time, the Toyota Camry is still the top selling car in America. The Avalon is not going anywhere. The Honda Accord remains a car of the year. Nissan’s refreshing the Altima. The Koreans and Germans aren’t giving up on sedans either.

What this stinks of, is giving up. Unrealistic sales expectations coupled with the inability to create a better mousetrap. Unable to compete in the sedan world, the U.S. auto industry is retreating to the SUV and truck market. Well, it has to do a better job there, too, because the imports are making inroads. They’ve got a ton of SUVs to rival the best the “Big Three” have to offer, and Tundras, Tacomas, Ridgelines, Frontiers and Titans, as well.

Meanwhile, for those of us who would rather “buy American,” but need rear doors, and don’t want an SUV or a truck, U.S. makers have said “sayonara” — our options are dwindling.​

Make your next moves wisely, U.S. automakers, your very existence is on the line. No one is too big, or to important, to fail. Just ask Sears.

Ran in the December 5 edition of the Fauquier and Prince William Times

​The passing of a former president is always a momentous occasion, a time to put politics aside, pause, and reflect on where we have been, and where we are going.

If there is one word to sum up the public life of George Herbert Walker Bush, it would be service. It didn’t have to be that way, Bush was born into a family that “had” in an era where many “had not.” But the future president was raised not to boast about individual achievement or advantage, rather to be polite and contribute to the greater good.

It was that commitment that led the young Bush to enlist in the Navy as soon as he was able following Pearl Harbor, becoming youngest naval aviator at the time. He flew fifty-eight combat missions and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross. On one such mission he was shot down, losing his crew, but himself surviving several hours until picked up by a submarine.

“Why had I been spared and what did God have for me?" He later wrote.

Two-term congressman from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, United States envoy to China, director of the Central Intelligence Agency and vice president, under Ronald Reagan. And, then, of course, President of the United States.

The last of the World War II generation to have held the office, Bush was remarkably relatable. He was a pragmatist. He once threw up in another world leader’s lap during an important state event. He didn’t eat his broccoli. He made fun of himself on Saturday Night Live. He learned how to skydive at 75 and celebrated major birthdays by jumping from airplanes. He enjoyed speedboating. And, of course, spending time with his wife of 73 years, Barbara, who passed away in April.

Like his son, also a former president — “43” to his “41” in Bush speak — he was prone to “Bushisms.” “Fluency in English is something that I'm often not accused of,” he once said.

He faced dark times. He lost a 3-year-old daughter to cancer, and at least one of his kids struggled with addiction. Yet he persevered through it all with quiet stoicism, grace and dignity, persuading the country that whatever happened, he could handle it. It was that steady hand on the tiller when the Cold War ended, and that forged a coalition to stand up to Saddam Hussein’s Kuwait invasion.

From his advocacy of volunteerism — a thousand points of light — to his calls for a kinder, gentler America and his support for life-changing legislation like the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Clean Air Act, President George H.W. Bush demonstrated that presidents from both parties can — and should — care about the environment and the less fortunate, and look for ways that government can set the country on a more just and compassionate course.

The criticism he faced for not pursuing and toppling the Hussein regime now looks wise in hindsight, but coupled with dissatisfaction in the economy, and a broken promise not to raise taxes, Bush was sent back home to Kennebunkport after just one term. It was a bitter, hard fought, personal campaign, and it stung, but he still found time to write a gracious note to his successor.

Rather than languish in retirement, that call of duty he felt all his life would help him shrug off losing the presidency and forge one of the unlikeliest bonds of recent political memory, a friendship with the man who had defeated him, Bill Clinton. At the request of his then-president son, the former opponents teamed up in an effort that transcended partisanship, first in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and later, those hit by Hurricane Katrina.

In 2016, Bush made headlines by shaving his head in support of a 2-year-old boy battling leukemia. The boy was the son of a member of his security detail.

“A lot of the agents shaved their head,” he said at the time. “I said, ‘Well why not me?’ It was the right thing to do.”

The right thing to do. And one more example of the lifelong, steadfast and good-hearted leadership President Bush exemplified in both his personal and public lives. In our age of political division, he serves as a reminder that our nation is much better served by leaders who inspire the best in us rather than the worst.